Hunting absorbs £570m on acquisitions

Hunting, the FTSE 250 energy services company, absorbed around £570m in cash during the period between first July and 16 November, following a series of four acquisitions.

The firm's tool business is trading strongly after a poor first quarter, while the company has been driven by a strong order book.

Dennis Proctor, Hunting's Chief Executive said: "The economic climate in Europe and the Americas continues to have minimal impact on the demand for energy. Rig counts within the company's various operating regions have risen with operators' drilling plans for 2012 currently remaining steady.

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"Within this business climate, the group continues to perform well albeit with some continuing uncertainty related to the issuing of drilling permits for deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Group trading for the full year is therefore expected to be in line with market expectations."

National Coupling continues to experience customer delays with regulations related to drilling in the Gulf of Mexico leading to a deferral of profits into 2012. Other operations within Well Intervention are trading in line with management's expectations.

The group's net debt position as at 31 October 2011 was around £225m.

The share price fell 0.95% to 679p by 14:03.

NR